Election of nine Members of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

In reference to the decision of the Bureau of the Conference of States parties, made in June 2021, the fifteenth session of the Conference of the States parties to the Convention will take place in New York on 14 to 16 June 2022, during which the election of nine members of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with disabilities will be conducted.

In accordance with that decision, the deadline to nominate a candidate for membership in the Committee for the period 2023-2026, is 13 April 2022.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is composed of 18 independent experts – persons of high moral character and recognized competence in the field of human rights.

In accordance with article 34, paragraph 7, the term of nine of the members elected will expire on 31 December 2022. Thus, nine seats in the Committee must now be filled through an election.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was adopted by the General Assembly by its resolution 61/106 of 13 December 2006. It came into force on 3 May 2008 upon the 20th ratification. Article 40 of the Convention stipulates that “The States Parties shall meet regularly in a Conference of States Parties in order to consider any matter with regard to the implementation of the present Convention.” Since 2008, 15 sessions of the Conference of States Parties have been held at United Nations Headquarters, New York.

The nominations and biographical data, in accordance with the “biographical data form” (find the form in Word below No. 3), should be submitted to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations Office at Geneva, CH-1211 Geneva 10 and in ELECTRONIC VERSION (find the form in Word below No.3) to registry@ohchr.org.

Members serve in their personal capacity and may be re-elected once if nominated.

NOTE: Nominations will ONLY be processed when submitted in WORD FORMAT and WITHIN THE PAGE LIMIT (1 and a half pages-Roman text 12.

In its current composition eleven experts of the Committee are women, and seven are men; with their regional distribution as follows: 5 experts from Latin America and the Caribbean, 4 from Africa, 4 from Asia-Pacific, 1 from Eastern Europe, and 4 from Western Europe and other States.

Of the 9 experts whose mandates expire on 31 December 2022: 2 are from the African regional group, 2 from Asia-Pacific, 1 from Eastern Europe, 2 from Western Europe and other States and 2 from Western Europe and other States.

In April 2017, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted a statement on achieving gender balance and equitable geographical representation in the elections of members of the Committee. The Committee expressed concerns that only one woman was left as member of the Committee resulting from the 2016 elections. It also expressed concern about the shifting geographical balance in the membership. The Committee called upon States parties to be mindful of the need to promote the geographical balance and the inclusion of women with disabilities in elections of the Committee to secure equal geographical representation and restore gender balance. The statement is also available below.

Documentation

1. Note verbale on elections: English | Français | Español
2. Members whose term expires on 31 December 2022: English | Français | Español
3. Biographical Data Form: English | Français | Español
4. Provisional Rules of Procedure: English
5. Handbook for Treaty Body Members

Received Names of Candidates for the 2022 Elections

Source: OHCHR